Eco-Business has partnered with the Global Energy Prize to give readers a chance to post their toughest energy-related questions to a panel of the world’s leading energy scientists.
In keeping with the goals of the Global Energy Prize, this new initiative is aimed to spur global discussion on energy security and the advancement of energy technology for the benefit of humanity.
“We introduced the interactive online feature to give our readers a direct line to the experts on the cutting edge of energy technology,” said James Hosking, managing director of Eco-Business. Many of our readers are experts themselves, and we expect some insightful questions and lively debates, he added.
Readers of Eco-business are invited to submit questions from today.
Eco-business will select the best reader questions and pose them to the panel for the scientists to answer in a series of articles on the site.
The panellists
The award-winning scientists on the panel provide a global perspective on a wide range of topics that directly affect Asia, for example, renewable energy industries, nuclear power production and public sector environmental decision-making. They are all members of the International Award Committee chosen to determine this year’s Global Energy Prize.
Tom Blees is the author of Prescription for the Planet. The book explains how a trio of revolutionary technologies could springboard humanity to an era beyond energy scarcity, with a particular focus on properly regulated nuclear power provided by Integral Fast Reactors. He co-founded a charitable organisation to provide safe water supplies to villagers in Central America, and it was during the course of fundraising for this project that Mr Blees came across the technologies examined in his book.
José Goldemberg, a professor of physical sciences at the University of Sao Pãulo, sits on the board of Washington’s Sustainable Energy Institute. In 2007 he was named by TIME magazine as one of its Heroes of the Environment for his pioneering work in discovering the biofuel potential in sugarcane, now a major source of energy in Brazil and the rest of the world.
Marta Bonifert is the executive director of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), an international organisation based in Hungary. The REC assists with solving environmental problems through the promotion of stakeholder cooperation, free information exchange, and public participation in environmental decision making.
Ambassador Pius Yasebasi Ng’wandu holds a PhD from Stanford University and has held many political positions in Tanzania, including as the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, as well as the Minister of Water. He is founder and managing director of the consulting group Yaseconsult, and from 1998 to 2005 was the Chairperson of the National Commission of UNESCO.
The Global Energy Prize
The Global Energy Prize was established in 2002 by a group of Russian scientists, with the support of major energy corporations. This international award is granted for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of energy which have proved of benefit to the entire human race.
Since its inception, the award has been granted to 22 scientists from Great Britain, Iceland, Canada, Russia, the USA, Ukraine, France, Germany and Japan.
Awarded annually, the prize fund amounts to 30 million roubles (approximately $1m USD) and is divided among the Laureates. The President of the Russian Federation participates in the awards ceremony held in St Petersburg each year, which is accompanied by a Laureates’ Week celebrating the work of the winning scientists.
Thanks to all the readers who posted questions for the Global Energy Prize panel. Although the submission period for questions to the panel has ended, readers should feel free to continue to add their two cents to the global dialogue in the comments section below.
Read the responses from the panellists:
Letting the market decide: Tom Blees responds to Eco-Business reader’s question
Global energy expert José Goldemberg responds to sustainable energy question
Is nuclear the most viable ‘clean’ energy? - a Global Energy Prize response
Why not hydrogen? Global energy expert responds to hydrogen fuel question
